Just as I expected, I did my Wednesday Weigh-In and I gained weight this week. I started running regularly again (4 weeks post-op) and as I mentioned, starting an exercise program ALWAYS makes me either gain or maintain my weight for a couple of weeks. Which can be frustrating, if you're only looking at the number on the scale!
However, we all know that exercise is GOOD for us... and as long as we're not eating like pigs, we're not going to gain fat from exercise. I took an A.C.E. personal training course years ago, and one thing that really struck me was that our muscles retain water when we start an exercise program--and they hold onto that water until we stop our exercise program. (Which is probably part of the reason why I dropped 9 pounds the week after surgery--I stopped exercising, and my muscles released all that water). So if you're a regular exerciser, your muscles are probably holding onto some water at all times.
When you see the number on the scale go up after starting an exercise program, you may have lost some fat from exercise, but gained water weight, and that's why the number on the scale kind of sucks. (At least this is how I understand it, from the class I took). This was clear to me today when I recorded my weight and my body fat percentage.
My weight went UP (just half a pound, but it was up nonetheless) and my body fat percentage went DOWN. Meaning the weight I gained had to be the water weight I was talking about.
The reason I mention all of this is because if any of you notice a small gain or you're having a hard time losing weight when you start an exercise program, it's not necessarily a bad thing. If you're doing everything "right" (meaning you're eating well, not gorging yourself, and you're exercising) then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
Keep in mind that every BODY is different, so this may not be the case for everyone. It's just something I noticed over my (many, many, many) years of yo-yo dieting. It usually takes me about 2-3 weeks before I start noticing a good drop in weight again (and that was when I was very heavy, so this is new territory for me right now). I'm only two pounds from my goal weight, so it should be interesting to see how long it takes me to get there :)
I've been binge-free for 5 weeks and 2 days now!! I'm much prouder of that accomplishment than I am from the weight loss I've had over those weeks. I still struggle with urges to binge, but I keep reminding myself that once I do it ONE TIME, it'll be so much easier to get back in the bingeing habit, always promising to start a new streak "tomorrow". I'm determined to beat my last binge-free streak!
(By the way, if you've sent me e-mail recently and I haven't responded yet, I'm not ignoring you--I've been putting all my spare computer time and focus on switching the blog to WordPress--but since I gave up on that, hopefully I'll get caught up on e-mails this week).
However, we all know that exercise is GOOD for us... and as long as we're not eating like pigs, we're not going to gain fat from exercise. I took an A.C.E. personal training course years ago, and one thing that really struck me was that our muscles retain water when we start an exercise program--and they hold onto that water until we stop our exercise program. (Which is probably part of the reason why I dropped 9 pounds the week after surgery--I stopped exercising, and my muscles released all that water). So if you're a regular exerciser, your muscles are probably holding onto some water at all times.
When you see the number on the scale go up after starting an exercise program, you may have lost some fat from exercise, but gained water weight, and that's why the number on the scale kind of sucks. (At least this is how I understand it, from the class I took). This was clear to me today when I recorded my weight and my body fat percentage.
My weight went UP (just half a pound, but it was up nonetheless) and my body fat percentage went DOWN. Meaning the weight I gained had to be the water weight I was talking about.
 |
| Weight is 135, up 0.5 pounds from last week |
 |
| Body fat is 19.6%, down 0.8% from last week |
Keep in mind that every BODY is different, so this may not be the case for everyone. It's just something I noticed over my (many, many, many) years of yo-yo dieting. It usually takes me about 2-3 weeks before I start noticing a good drop in weight again (and that was when I was very heavy, so this is new territory for me right now). I'm only two pounds from my goal weight, so it should be interesting to see how long it takes me to get there :)
I've been binge-free for 5 weeks and 2 days now!! I'm much prouder of that accomplishment than I am from the weight loss I've had over those weeks. I still struggle with urges to binge, but I keep reminding myself that once I do it ONE TIME, it'll be so much easier to get back in the bingeing habit, always promising to start a new streak "tomorrow". I'm determined to beat my last binge-free streak!
(By the way, if you've sent me e-mail recently and I haven't responded yet, I'm not ignoring you--I've been putting all my spare computer time and focus on switching the blog to WordPress--but since I gave up on that, hopefully I'll get caught up on e-mails this week).
